The present invention relates to static sprayers such as are used for irrigating crops. The invention is particularly directed to a static sprayer including a protective cover to protect the sprayer from entry of insects or other foreign objects during non-operating periods of the sprayer.
Water irrigation sprayers and sprinklers are frequently left in the field for long periods of non-use. During such non-use periods, insects attracted by moisture within the sprayer or sprinkler tend to clog their discharge outlets. Such clogging of the sprayers or sprinklers by insects, or by the accumulation of other foreign objects during long periods of non-use, may result in the malfunction, or at least in the need for frequent cleaning, of the sprayers or sprinklers. In the case of rotary sprinklers, this problem has been addressed by mounting the rotary deflector of the sprinkler in such manner permitting it to drop by gravity to cover the discharge outlet when the sprinkler is not in use.